5:00am

Fri May 17, 2013
Sports with Art Thiel

Wait could be longer for Sonics fans; Kings sold to Calif. investors

Credit Ted S. Warren / AP Photo
A fan wears a shirt that reads "Bring Back Our Sonics," as he attends a fan rally Monday in Seattle.

  • Sports with Art Thiel

The effort to bring the Sacramento Kings to Seattle is officially over. After the NBA Board of Governors voted Wednesday to deny relocation of the Kings to Seattle, the team has now been sold to California investors.

The Sacramento Bee reports a Sacramento investors group has reached a deal with the Maloof family to buy the Kings for an NBA record valuation of $535 million.

KPLU sports commentator Art Thiel phoned in a report on the deal late Thursday night.

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6:39pm

Thu May 16, 2013
marijuana laws

Proposed ban on hash, pot extract irks critics

Credit Ted S. Warren / Associated Press

Washington’s proposed marijuana rules weren't even 24-hours old when critics began finding things not to like. The 46-pages of draft regulations released Thursday cover everything from where marijuana can be grown to the criminal backgrounds of license applicants. But it’s the section on marijuana concentrates that’s getting some negative buzz.

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3:47pm

Thu May 16, 2013
Marijuana legalization

Five things you should know about the proposed marijuana rules

Credit Liquor Control Board
This is the official logo for state-licensed marijuana stores and products.

The state Liquor Control Board on Thursday released a draft of rules proposed to help regulate legal marijuana. The 46-page document is filled with details relevant to those who plan to apply for a pot license.

Here are five things non-license seekers should know about the proposed rules:

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3:11pm

Thu May 16, 2013
KPLU

Thank you for supporting KPLU and the GiveBIG campaign!

Thank you to all of our listeners who contributed to KPLU through the Seattle Foundation's GiveBIG campaign.

Thanks to your generosity, we received just over $40,000 from our supporters!

2:13pm

Thu May 16, 2013
marijuana legalization

State releases draft of rules for legal marijuana

Credit Elaine Thompson / Associated Press

 Officials in Washington state took their first stab at setting rules for the state's new marijuana industry Thursday, nearly eight months after voters here legalized pot for adults.

Among the preliminary regulations: They want to track marijuana from "seed to store," and while they're putting a cap on the number of retail stores in each county, they're not planning to limit the number of licensed pot growers or processors.

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1:06pm

Thu May 16, 2013
KPLU Studio Sessions

Ann Hampton Callaway: Singing the standards, Streisand and making it up as she goes

Vocalist, pianist and composer, Ann Hampton Callaway has had success in the worlds of jazz, Broadway and cabaret. She’s also one of our favorite KPLU Studio Session guests.

We invite her to perform every time she passes through Seattle because, from one visit to the next, we never know what kind of surprises she’ll treat us to.

This time around, with host Abe Beeson and a small audience of KPLU Leadership Circle members, Ann turned Our Love Is Here To Stay into an audience-participation scat-along which was enjoyed by all.

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12:01pm

Thu May 16, 2013
electric vehicles

Nissan electric car sales booming in Washington state

In this photo taken May 26, 2011, show a Nissan Leaf charging in Portland, Ore.

The automaker Nissan says sales of its fully-electric Leaf compact surpassed all other Nissan models at dealers in the Seattle and Portland areas this spring. The announcement Wednesday runs counter to the prevailing wisdom that adoption of plug-in cars has been sluggish.

At Nissan USA headquarters, director of electric vehicle marketing and sales Erik Gottfried says he's scrambling to ship enough Leafs to meet demand in the Pacific Northwest. The car maker juiced its plug-in sales by slashing the sticker price and offering low-cost leases. Gottfried says that was made possible by opening a domestic production line in Tennessee.

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12:00pm

Thu May 16, 2013
Jazz Caliente

Local Latin Jazz Forecast

Two upcoming not-to-be missed performances of Latin jazz, Seattle-style:

Thursday May 16 (tonight)  Tula's, 2214 Second Avenue  Fred Hoadley's Sonando

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5:01am

Thu May 16, 2013
digital culture

Why I ditched my smartphone

Ashley Gross' "dumb phone" is seen next to her co-workers' smartphones in this photo.

By the end of this year, about one and a half billion people will have a smartphone. That’s one for every five people on the planet—and remember, that number includes babies.

But I'm one of the ones who longs for the good old days—you know, when phones were just used to call people. It's not that I'm a complete Luddite; I just have a hard time restraining myself with such a cool gadget and not letting it take over my life. That's why I decided to ditch my smartphone. 

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9:17pm

Wed May 15, 2013
The Two-Way

Richard Swanson didn't reach Brazil, but he found an audience

Originally published on Wed May 15, 2013 1:41 pm

Credit YouTube
Richard Swanson, who died in Oregon Tuesday, has inspired an outpouring of condolences as his story of walking to Brazil for charity has inspired those who learn about it.

Hundreds of condolences are appearing online for Richard Swanson, the Seattle man whose plan to dribble a soccer ball all the way to Brazil to raise money for charity ended Tuesday after he was struck and killed by a pickup truck in Oregon. Many see his story as an inspiration, and say they'll continue his charity work.

"It is with a heavy heart to notify you that Richard Swanson passed on this morning," reads an update announcing Swanson's death on the Facebook page for his project, Breakaway Brazil, yesterday.

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4:50pm

Wed May 15, 2013
marijuana quality control

A guidebook on marijuana quality control nearing completion

Credit Austin Jenkins
This image shows a part of the cover page of the Cannabis Monograph.

Entrepreneurs who hope to cash in on legal marijuana will have some heavy reading to do Thursday. That’s when Washington’s Liquor Control Board is expected to release nearly 50 pages of proposed rules for growers, processors and retailers. But there is another pot rulebook that’s also in development.

It’s called the Cannabis Monograph. Think of it as an illustrated bible for pot quality control. It’s a technical but colorful handbook for testing labs to ensure the identity, purity, and quality of legal pot.

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4:06pm

Wed May 15, 2013
IRS scandal

Obama: IRS acting commissioner has resigned

President Barack Obama says the acting commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, Steven Miller, has submitted his resignation in the aftermath of an investigation that found the agency improperly targeted conservative groups.

Obama says Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew requested Miller's resignation.

Obama says the IRS conduct was inexcusable, and he's angry about it. He also insists that safeguards be put in place to prevent reoccurrence of improper actions.

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3:20pm

Wed May 15, 2013
NBA in Seattle

NBA owners: Sacramento Kings to stay put

NBA owners voted Wednesday to reject the Sacramento Kings' proposed move to Seattle. 

The 22-to-8 vote followed a recommendation made last month by the NBA's relocation committee and may have finally brought an end to an emotional saga that has dragged on for nearly three years.

"This was not an anti-Seattle vote; this was a pro-Sacramento vote," said NBA Commissioner David Stern.

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2:26pm

Wed May 15, 2013
Education

Seattle instructors to help parents stem kids' summer brain drain

Credit pastorbuhro / Flickr
Summer break typically sets students back by about a month in their studies.

Summer vacation may be fun, but research shows it wipes out about a month’s worth of learning. This weekend, Seattle schools officials will offer strategies to reduce summer learning loss.

Since kids are understandably wary of anything that makes summer break feel like school, the key is to make it fun, said Seattle Public Schools’ Bernardo Ruiz.

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1:04pm

Wed May 15, 2013
Code Switch

Immigrants to be largest driver of U.S. population growth

Originally published on Thu May 16, 2013 6:56 am

Credit LM Otero / AP
Immigrants take the U.S. oath of citizenship during a naturalization ceremony in Irving, Texas.

New immigrants will be the main driver of population growth in the U.S. by as early as 2027, according to new Census Bureau projections.

This would be the first time in almost two centuries that new births will not be the largest source of U.S. population growth.

The Census Bureau says its projections show a combination of declining fertility rates, aging baby boomers and ongoing immigration to the United States.

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